Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department Thursday filed a six-count indictment against three former UBS bankers — Peter Ghavami, Gary Heinz and Michael Welty — for participating in fraud schemes and conspiracies in connection with the bidding of investment and other contracts for municipal bonds from as early as 2001 until 2006.

Fighting insolvency, the Xenia Rural Water District of Iowa made a partial debt-service payment due last week on $83 million of water revenue bonds — with CIFG Assurance North America Inc. covering the remainder — as the struggling utility prepares to release a restructuring plan later this month.

The Justice Department has filed a new indictment against CDR Financial Products and three current and former officials that expands on some of the original October 2009 charges against them to include so-called honest services fraud — a criminal statute that survived a Supreme Court challenge earlier this year and is often used to prosecute wrongdoing by public officials.

Morgan Stanley is the latest target of MBIA Inc.'s quest to win back more than $2 billion of claims it paid on mortgage-backed securities that went bust during the financial crisis.

An Alabama circuit court judge last week ruled unconstitutional an occupational and business license tax that provides a major source of income for Jefferson County's general fund budget. Commissioners are appealing the decision, the Birmingham News reported.

California's Assembly speaker has introduced a bill to disincorporate the Los Angeles County city of Vernon, which has a tiny population but more than $500 million of outstanding bond debt.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is initiating a study of the municipal market with an emphasis on pre-transaction pricing efficiency and liquidity, Securities and Exchange Commission member Elisse Walter announced Tuesday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch agreed to pay more than $137 million, as well as to take remedial steps, in unprecedented enforcement actions announced Tuesday to settle charges from four regulators.

Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets LLC has hired James C. Johnson as its general counsel.

Putnam County, N.Y., executive-elect Vincent Leibell 3rd pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. It was unclear Monday who will run the county beginning on Jan. 1 when the long-time state politician would have taken office.

Christopher Melvin joined law firm Nixon Peabody LLP as a managing director of public finance with a focus on stadium and sports finance, the firm announced Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to propose a draft pay-to-play rule for municipal advisers by the end of the month that will mirror existing political contribution restrictions imposed on dealers under its Rule G-37, chairman Michael Bartolotta told reporters in a conference call Monday morning.

SAN FRANCISCO — The city attorney of San Francisco has sent a shot across the bow of both JPMorgan Chase & Co. and MBIA in the form of threatening letters over their involvement in the Asian Art Museum’s financial crisis.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has upped the ante in its dispute with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board over the self-regulator’s proposal to nearly double the fees it collects from dealers, warning that the MSRB must do a better job of explaining the need for the increase.

Investors holding securities wrapped by Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. recently formed a policyholder group in an effort to negotiate a restructuring and avoid the insurer’s liquidation.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded the city of Reading to Baa2 from Baa1 as the city plans to issue $36.7 million of general obligation debt this week. The action affects $68.6 million of debt. Reading has nearly $220 million of long-term debt outstanding. The downgrade is due to historical budget deficits and limited liquidity.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission has hired two attorney-fellows to double the staff in its office of municipal securities, but efforts to comply with a congressional mandate to heighten the office’s stature so it directly reports to the chairman is being stymied by short-term budget stopgaps, sources said.

WASHINGTON — Three key Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a bill Thursday that would impose punitive action on any state or locality with a public pension fund that fails to file annual reports to the U.S. Treasury Department that adhere to a uniform set of accounting standards.

CHICAGO — Officials in Hamtramck met with the current and incoming state treasurers this week to continue to press their case for the cash-strapped city to become the first Michigan municipality to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority in north Florida has received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission inquiring about “disclosure issues,” the board’s attorney, Roy Andrews, said during a special meeting late Wednesday.